purgative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Theater makes much of the element of catharsis, but rarely is a show purgative all the way through, as the choreopoem “Queens of Sheba” is.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Taking out the trash is like administering a purgative to my house.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2019
And this, too, felt like a purgative end to 2016.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 3, 2017
The Council of Trent, which had been convened in response to the threat posed by Protestantism, had ended only two years previously and the counter-Reformation, with its purgative restatement of Catholic first principles, was underway.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 16, 2013
To bring them into balance, Dr. Harlow prescribes two powerful drugs—an "emetic" to make Phineas throw up and a "purgative," a powerful laxative, to evacuate his bowels.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
